


I saw no other reason

by Mina_Romanov



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, gravesneedsahug, slightPTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 18:53:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8726278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mina_Romanov/pseuds/Mina_Romanov
Summary: When Graves is forced to talk to someone and this someone seems to be lost too. He had never shared his feelings before and now after what had happened with Grindelwald, he simply doesn't want to. But how the hell did he end up on a couch with Tina's sister?





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Queeny x Graves story. I know it is not a commen pairing (yet), but I had these feelings about them. So I needed to write something fluffy. Enjoy ! :)

This had been a draining day. After the Grindelwald incident, as everyone was referring to it, everything was different. The pitiful looks, the fearful expressions, the hateful glances. Not that Graves hadn’t been feared or envied before. But this was definitely different.  
Before this they hated him because of the position he held with such an ease, or his ability to look right through excusing lies.  
He gave his best, but expected nothing less from his employees. That not everyone could fulfil this expectations was not surprising. But the best aurors were all highly qualified and skilled witches and wizards and if they made a mistake, well, let’s just say, they never made one again. And this was common knowledge in the whole department. Graves simply didn’t accept mistakes.  
But to achieve this elite group of aurors, one did not simply give orders. Graves basically worked day and night.  
He created new programs for trainees and accepted only the best and most skilled recruits. He would work with each of them alone before their first mission to test if they were really ready. All to guarantee the safety of everyone. To make them more efficient in their jobs.  
But that was not his only duty, first of all he was head of the auror department and needed to coordinate every auror movement, solve cases and the most dangerous and difficult missions were of course his. He tried so hard to work on the department, to make as less mistakes as possible, because every mistake could risk lives.  
But everyone made mistakes. And Graves mistake killed people, ended nearly in the exposure of the magical world and changed everything.

Graves held his head high as he walked through the floors of the ministry toward his office. His hair styled as immaculate as always, the look on his face a blank expression of politeness. The only differences were his sharp cheekbones and the cane he would have to use for a couple of more days.  
When the group of aurors had found him, he was half dead. Lying in a pool of his own blood in some sort of a warehouse near the Hudson River. He remembered the coldness in his bones, the pain and the unforgiving blackness, in which he wished to be dead. But all this was better than to face reality. To see the pity and the fear.  
People pitied him for the things he had to endure. Being in the claws of Gellert Grindelwald was obviously a thing nobody wished even his worst enemy. And they were right. The games he played with Graves mind, the things he could do with his magic…  
Percival was not sure if he could ever talk about it. Neither did he knew if he would ever want to share these things. Okay, he was pretty sure talking about it was not on his to do list.  
People feared him, because they couldn’t separate him from the Grindelwald-Graves. Nobody really knew when he started to be Graves and nobody could really forget what he had done during that time. Every single one of them saw Grindelwald when they looked at Graves. And that was worse than lying in the dark and coldness.

Knowing that Tina believed Grindelwald to be Graves when he sentenced her to death, or hurt her in more ways than attacking her, was worse than it. Percival still remembered the relief on Tina’s face when she learned that he was alive and that he hadn’t done any of these things. But he also still remembered the look of fear and betrayal in her eyes every now and then. She couldn’t just forget about the things that had happened.  
Graves still remembered the hope which rose inside of him when she hugged him tightly. He still remembered the numbness inside of him when she turned around and planted a soft kiss on Scamander’s lips. He was glad to see her happy, but on the inside, he fell further apart.  
This was when he met Queeny for dinner. First it was just to follow the instructions of his doctors. He obviously needed to talk to someone he knew. Someone not awfully close to him. Someone he wouldn’t see each day at work.

Why she agreed to meet him was a mystery to Graves. If she was nosy, or felt obliged because he was the boss of her sister, or just simply wanted to talk to him, he didn’t know. But honestly he didn’t care. He felt uncomfortable and annoyed on their first meeting. Ordering tea and coffee (mint tea for her, and dark black coffee for him) and sitting on a pink couch in a café she had picked, he felt simply out of place. The whole ordeal was getting on his nerves and he forgot why he had even agreed to it.  
They had sipped their drinks and while Graves was too stubborn and proud to tell anything, Queeny got more and more frustrated with every passing minute. If Percival would have paid her any attention he would have noticed her intense and strained stare, but he didn’t. So he was more than surprised when Queeny nearly forced him to agree to another meeting. He was not very fond of this idea, but the coffee was pretty good, so he agreed to it.

It took him four more meetings to realise why she was so unpleased after every time they had met.  
“You’re unsatisfied,” Graves stated without any preamble in the middle of their fifth meeting.

Queeny just bit her lip and lent forward. “How did you guess.”

“You can read everyone’s minds. Tina mentioned it a couple of days ago.”

She nodded swiftly and pursed her lips. “Yes, but to read you is even more difficult than reading Brits. What am I saying, it’s close to impossible. How do you do that?”

A smug smile formed on Graves’ lips as he lent back more at ease than just seconds ago. “First of all, thank you.” He took a sip of his delicious coffee. 

“Well, ever heard of occlumency? – It’s a technique to protect one’s own thoughts. It’s difficult and needs a lot of practise and concentration, but it proves to be very useful.”

“So there is no chance for me to read your mind?”

“Not unless you improve your skills drastically, or you get me to talk.”

“And how am I supposed to get you to talk?”

“How do you get others to talk?”

“I don’t. I just know what they think and tell them that there is no need in not telling me, because I’ll find out anyway.”

“So you blackmail them?”

“It’s not like that!”

“So what is it then?”

 

“I help them recognise the truth…” She seemed a bit unsure then.

“Tell me, did you ever actually have to earn someone’s trust to know what they are thinking? Did you ever work for it without using magic?”  
She shook her head.

“Then I wish you good luck with me, because you won’t be able to break through the walls around my mind.” 

After a couple of more days, he was able to walk without the cane and everything seemed to get slowly back to normal. The pitiful looks stopped and so did the hateful ones. Everything went smoothly and he could nearly forget about it. Right up until the day Grindelwald almost succeeded in breaking through the spells of his cell.  
The world turned upside down for Graves and the familiar grip of cold fear had him in its claws again. He immediately sent more guards there to watch over him and tripled the wards around the cell. There was no possible way for Grindelwald to get out. Still Graves trembled with fear when he entered the little café. But there was no chance in hell he was ordering coffee today.  
Queeny noticed that something was wrong within seconds and squeezed his hand tightly. Normally he would never allow such a thing, but the warmth of her hand comforted him and chased away the coldness within.  
He didn’t even decline her offer of dinner at her flat. Graves noted Tina’s absence with relief.  
Queeny cooked and he drank his third glass of scotch. Graves barely ate anything, but he did something he never believed he would. He talked.

The next times they met, it felt different. He noticed the discomfort Queeny felt when she did not know what the other one was thinking. She had never experienced something like that and it made her nervous and restless. Not knowing things was the worst curse for her. As it was for him sharing his thoughts, and worse, feelings.  
But they came to some sort of arrangement. He talked to her, and she cooked. Graves learned about her parents, her dreams. Her fears. He learned that this Mr. Kowalski was the first No-Maj she had liked, but as hard as she tried, he seemed not to remember her. They’d become something like friends again, but for her, it felt different. Graves offered to work on a spell to give him his memory back, but Queeny refused. She said it would give him too much hope. There would be no way to get back to how it was. Especially now that he had begun to talk about another woman.  
A tear slipped down her cheek, followed by another. “I’m sorry Mr. Graves.” She stood up and wanted to leave the room. But in one surprising movement Percival stood too and grabbed her wrist.  
“Don’t.”  
The look in his eyes was nearly tender, when his fingers caressed her cheek and lingered on her skin for far too long. But it was all too soon gone, when the tender look was replaced by utter confusion. Graves left the room in a heartbeat.  
Queeny still stood there, staring at the closed door. Mouth slightly agape. Did he just?

In an odd way Percival was pleased that Queeny and Kowalski were just friends. But this couldn’t be, could it? After all, why should he be glad about it. Why should he even touch her like this? He dismissed this thoughts quickly and began to work harder to get Grindelwald's followers.  
He didn’t show up to their next meeting. And the meetings after that.  
Tina showed up often in his office and brought him sandwiches. But all of these visits were followed by one question or a questioning look. “Anything new from England?”, “Have you heard anything from Mr. Scamander?” It was always the same.  
But not this time. Tina stormed into his office, throwing the door shut behind her.  
“Good morning Mr. Graves.”

“Morning Tina.”  
.  
.  
.  
“Why aren’t you coming to meet Queeny anymore?”

“I don’t think that this is any of your business, Miss Goldstein.”

“Shut it! I know you liked these meetings too, you seemed much calmer after you saw my sister. ”

“I don’t think that this is appropriate, Miss. And you are most definitely not right. As so often Tina, you always show up where you’re least wanted.” The venom in his voice had not been intended and he  
wished to take it back immediately.  
The look Tina gave him said more than anything. He had used almost the same words Grindelwald had. And Graves believed himself to be better.  
“Tina.”

She raised one hand. “I understand. I won’t bother you anymore.”

“Please Tina, don’t. I am so, so sorry, you can’t believe it. I didn’t mean this!” The look on her face softened.

“I know you didn’t. But it hurt none the less and you know? – Just give me some time.” Now it was Graves’s time to nearly break down in tears.

“Just, just promise me, you’ll see my sister. She’s waiting for you every time.”

All he could manage was a nod.

“I am really so sorry Tina.”

“It’s okay, Percival.”

Of course it was all but good, but there was nothing he could do about it. At least not then. He gave her a small, apologetic smile and she disappeared with a friendly nod. He really had believed to be better than Grindelwald, but obviously he was not. This bothered him for days and was another thing laying on his already more than guilty conscience.  
It took him another week and lots of motivating smiles from Tina (which he absolutely didn’t deserve) until he finally was able to visit Queeny again. He felt even more uncomfortable and nervous than the first time they had met.  
The look on Queeny's face when she saw him was one of surprise and relief. There were dark circles under her eyes combined with a sad and tired expression. She smiled broadly, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. Graves stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds. He had never seen her like this before. She had always looked merry and calm, sometimes even a bit overexcited and cheeky. But never exhausted and this sad.  
Percival closed the distance between them without thinking. Pulling the beautiful woman in a tight embrace, he began to whisper sweet nothings. She began to tremble with tears streaming down her face, fingers grabbing his coat tightly as she hold onto him. Graves didn’t know how long they had been standing there, but the light outside had faded, when Queeny suddenly pulled back. For a moment they just stood there, staring at each other, but then a loud smack filled the room.  
Percival raised his hand to his burning red cheek. The sheer force of her slap surprised him.

“How dare you come to me like this after weeks of your absence?”

Graves said nothing.

“Don’t you think I’ve got better things to do than waiting for you?”

“Do you?”

First she looked like she wanted to punch him again. Then she took a deep breath, turned around and went into the kitchen.

"Do you want anything special today?"

"Nothing in particular. I'll go with whatever you want to eat today."

"So as usual then..."

Her voice was not back to normal. It was friendly, yes. But something was amiss. Suddenly graves decided to try something he had never done before.  
All floating things fell to the ground with a loud crash and Queeny turned around with an expression of pure surprise. Mouth wide agape, eyes staring in utter astonishment.

"Was that you?"

"Yes."

"But I thought nobody could read your thoughts."

"Not unless I want them to."

"But you said you would never let me."

"Congratulations then. You managed to actually earn someone's trust without using legilimens."

With a wave of Graves hand, all of the things raised again into the air, continuing their work.

"And thank you. I always knew you liked my food."

"See. You knew it even without using your magic."

She tilted her head to one side and decided not to talk about it too much.  
The evening continued like every other had before. Of course the atmosphere was still slightly tense, but after a couple of glasses wine (or in his case Scotch) this faded too. They ended up on the sofa, her feet lying on his lap. They just sat there in silence enjoying each other’s company. And when they talked, they did it in hushed voices. Sharing thoughts and whatever else they wanted to. Even though it was like every other evening, it was completely different on a special level. She now knew he trusted her, and most surprisingly to Graves, it was the truth.  
After this evening Graves had learnt the thing Queeny hated more than not being able to read his thoughts during a conversation. Actually it was quite simple, the thing she hated most was not knowing things at all. And not being able to read his thought may be one thing, but not being able to get one single bit of information was something completely different. Especially when she was surprised and couldn’t figure out why things happened. And when he didn’t show up anymore for their meetings, Queeny didn’t know why. She could only make assumptions and they did not help in the slightest. She hated that she didn’t know why he wasn’t coming anymore. She hated that he wasn’t there.  
And only a little extra was the engagement between Kowalski and Sara.

From this evening on, Graves came to all their meetings. He even cooked for her once. It ended up in both of them being covered in flour and most importantly, a delicious meal. Their meetings became more frequent and often ended in him staying overnight. Tina only grinned when she saw him waking up on her couch in the morning. He would only give her an annoyed look when she wiggled her eyebrows, but always accept the hot, dark and strong cup of coffee. This was one of the first things every new recruit learnt in the auror department, don’t talk to Mr. Graves before he had not at least two cups of coffee. But more often than not, he was the first in the office and had at least three cups before the others arrived.

 

As the weeks passed and nothing extraordinary happened, Graves was finally able to relax once again. Grindelwald was still sitting in his cell with many of his followers sharing his fate. It were good times. The looks of his employees were once again ones of admiration and respect. Sometimes someone stared at him with fury, but everything was better than pity and fear. Queeny and Graves grew closer with every meeting and neither of them spent much time alone. Something both of them appreciated greatly. A change came when Scamander was visiting New York again. He wanted to bring Tina one of his books and stay for a couple of days.  
Graves and Queeny wanted them to spend some days in peace. So Graves gave Tina one week off (it was the least he could do). And when Newt decided to spend this time at Tina’s and Queeny’s flat, Graves offered Queeny that she could spend this week with him to give Newt and Tina some privacy.  
Queeny accepted in a heartbeat. When Tina decided at the end of the week to travel to Arizona with Newt (he wanted to visit Frank), Queeny saw no reason in returning to their flat on her own. Not when she could stay with Graves instead.  
Graves saw no reason in declining her request and so they ended up having tea and coffee every morning and evening at his apartment.  
Once Queeny noticed his nightmares she came to his bedroom to soothe him and decided that there was no reason in returning to her own either.  
And it came the day that seeing no reason to act otherwise became because I want (you) to stay.


End file.
